FOOD: A FUNDAMENTAL INGREDIENT IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY

taken from An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage

CS110 Microcomputer Project - Chiara Cervini – December 2013

Contents

There are many ways to look at the past…

…as a list of important dates

As a conveyor belt of kings and queens...

As a series of rising and falling empires

or as a narrative of political, philosophical or technological progress.

It is possible to observe history from another point of view, less conventional maybe, but likewise significant for humanity…

…and that is through

Food: Agent of Change

… It has acted as a catalyst of social

transformation and

organization through,

Throughout history, food has done

more than just provide sustenance …

Geopolitical Competition

Industrial Development

Military Conflict

… and

Economic Expansion

Food’s first transformative role

acted as a foundation for entire

civilizations.

Agriculture: Aggregation

The adoption of agriculture

made

new settled lifestyles possible

and set mankind on the path to the modern world.

From hunting and gathering

to

Farming in a

continuous way.

First Stable Civilizations

First Staple Crops

Wheat MaizeMillet

Barley Rice Potatoes

The staple crops that supported the first civilizations, i.e.

• barley and wheat in the Near East

• millet and rice in Asia

• maize and potatoes in the Americas,

were not simply discovered by chance.

Crop SelectionThe first Genetic Engineers were farmers.

Instead, they emerged through a

complex process of

co-evolution,

as desirable traits were selected and propagated by early farmers.

New Species

New Tools

New Processes

New Social Organization

Political, economic and religious structures of ancient societies were based upon the systems of food production and distribution

The

production of …

Agricultural food surpluses and…

Development of Communal Food Storage and …

Food Conservation

Fostered…

Political Centralization

Agricultural fertility rituals developed into

state religions

FOOD became a means

of …

Payment and taxation

Power

Influence and display of status

Food-trade routes acted as

international communication networks

and fostered cultural and religious

exchange

compiled the first attempts at

world maps

Early Geographers

The European desire to circumvent the

Arab Spice Monopoly

led to …

First Colonial Outposts

And later on to…

Imperialism

Industrial Revolution

Plantations: Sugar and Potatoes

Sugar: West Indies

Europe: Potatoes

Sugar

and

potatoes

provided cheap sustenance for the workers in

the new factories

of the industrial age.

Potatoes became a staple food.

Compared to cereal crops, they produced more calories per given area of land.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Groundnut in shell

Lentils Potato Rice, paddy Sweet potatoes Wheat

Calories(kcal/m2-crop)

1845: Great Irish Potato Famine

Food and War

The use of FOOD as a

weapon of

war

is timeless.

In Europe, Napoleon’s

rise and fall was

intimately connected…

…with his ability to

FEED his vast armies.

Ideological Weapon

Artificial Famine

was used during the

Cold War between

capitalism and communism.

The Green Revolution

Green Revolution

Norman BorlaugGeneticist

Wins the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970

o Increase per hectare crop yields of wheat, corn, and rice

Creates new hybrid varieties

Objective: Food Security

o Facilitate harvest through mechanization.

Norin 10 Dwarf Wheat

Hybrid rice

Green Revolution

Industrial Agriculture

19%

19%

11%

10%

9%

6%

5%

4%3%3%

Agrochemical Industry% Market Share

Bayer (Germany)

Syngenta (Switzerland)

BASF (Germany)

Dow AgroSciences (USA)

Monsanto (USA)

DuPont (USA)

Makhteshim Agan (Israel)

Nufarm (Australia)

Sumitomo Chemical (Japan)

Arysta Lifescience (Japan)

Companies

Source: Agrow World Crop Protection News, August 2008

Industrial Livestock

Intensive Agriculture

$0 $200 $400 $600 $800 $1,000 $1,200

Potash Corp (Canada)

Yara (Norway)

Mosaic (USA) (Cargill has 55% stake)

Israel Chemicals Ltd. (Israel)

Agrium (Canada)

K+S Group (Germany)

Sociedad Quimica y Minera (Chile)

Fertilizer Industry2007 Net Income (US$ millions)

Intensive Agriculture

Source: Potash Corp, 2007

Modern Food Debates

Taking a long-term historical perspective also provides a new way to illuminate

modern debates about food, such as…

The Globalization of Food

In modern times food has become a battlefield for other issues,

including trade and development

Sustainable Agriculture

OGM Yes, OGM No

Biofuel Yes

Biofuel No

Food Poverty

16.8 %

0

40.4

50.9

0.04 0.04

% by Region

People Living on $1.25 Per Day

East Asia and Pacif ic Latin America and the Caribbean

South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa

Europe and Central Asia Middle East and North Africa

Food Poverty

Source: World Bank

Food Localism

Nutrition

Food’s historical influence can be seen all around us,

and not just in the kitchen, at the dining table or in the supermarket …

… food choices made in the past have had far-

reaching consequences, and have in unexpected

ways shaped the world in which we now live…

That food has been such an important ingredient in human affairs might seem strange, but it would be far more surprising if it had not.

After all, everything that every person has ever

done, throughout history, has literally been

fuelled by food.

The End